Various types of circuitry and mechanical components benefit from operation in a controlled environment. For instance, temperature, humidity, and chemical interaction may affect electronic and/or mechanical devices. Controlling an environment, however, can be difficult or expensive with regard to manufacturing and long-term use. Further, failure to properly control an environment can adversely affect the performance or lifetime of various components.
One type of component that is susceptible to issues relating to its environment is a disk drive, which is used for data storage in modern electronic products ranging from digital cameras to computer systems and networks. A disk drive may include a mechanical portion, or head disk assembly (HDA), and electronics in the form of a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), mounted to an outer surface of the HDA. The PCBA controls HDA functions and provides an interface between the disk drive and its host. An HDA includes moving parts such as one or more magnetic disks affixed to a spindle motor assembly for rotation at a constant speed, an actuator assembly supporting an array of read/write heads that traverse generally concentric data tracks radially spaced across the disk surfaces and a voice coil motor (VCM) providing rotational motion to the actuator assembly. In operation, the magnetic-recording disk rapidly rotates by the spindle motor to access (read and/or write) the data stored on the disk.
The above challenges can result in issues relating to manufacturing, implementation and longevity for disk drives and a variety of other components.